Rob Simmelkjaer: New York Road Runners is a non- profit organization with
Rob Simmelkjaer: a vision to build healthier lives and stronger communities through
Rob Simmelkjaer: the transformative power of running. The support of members and
Rob Simmelkjaer: donors like you helps us achieve our mission to transform
Rob Simmelkjaer: the health and well- being of our communities through inclusive
Rob Simmelkjaer: and accessible running experiences, empowering all to achieve their potential.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Learn more and contribute at nyrr. org/ donate.
Speaker 3: Thank you. New York. Today we're reminded of the power
Speaker 3: of community and the power of coming together. Athletes on
Speaker 3: your mark.
Speaker 2: The first woman to finish for the second straight year
Speaker 2: here in the New York City Marathon is Miki Gorman, a smiling
Speaker 2: Miki Gorman. And why not? 2: 29:30, the time for good advice.
Speaker 3: Look at the emotion of Shalane Flanagan as she comes
Speaker 3: to the line. Pointing to his chest, pointing to the
Speaker 3: USA he so proudly wears across his chest. A great day for Matt Kapustka.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hey everybody, and welcome to Set The Pace presented by
Rob Simmelkjaer: Peloton, the official podcast of New York Road Runners. Happy
Rob Simmelkjaer: holidays to everybody out there. As we get closer and
Rob Simmelkjaer: closer to the end of the year, we're thrilled to
Rob Simmelkjaer: have you with us. I'm Rob Simmelkjaer, your host and
Rob Simmelkjaer: the CEO of New York Road Runners. My co- host,
Rob Simmelkjaer: Becs Gentry from Peloton. She'll be here a little bit
Rob Simmelkjaer: later in the show to join me for an awesome
Rob Simmelkjaer: interview we had, but she had to run out to
Rob Simmelkjaer: teach a class, so she'll be back in just a
Rob Simmelkjaer: little while. Well, we are just about there at the
Rob Simmelkjaer: end of a great year of running here in New York.
Rob Simmelkjaer: This past Saturday, we got to celebrate the start of
Rob Simmelkjaer: the winter, but also a truly banner year for New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York Road Runners. Our team, our runners, our members with
Rob Simmelkjaer: an appropriately named race, the Frosty 5K, a 5K out in
Rob Simmelkjaer: Brooklyn. So much fun in Prospect Park. It was frosty. Over 3,
Rob Simmelkjaer: 300 runners showed up at 28 degrees at start time
Rob Simmelkjaer: in Prospect Park. Lots of people in costumes. Santas and
Rob Simmelkjaer: reindeer and snowmen and Elsas and Olafs and the whole thing. It was
Rob Simmelkjaer: a great, great day. I wasn't able to be there,
Rob Simmelkjaer: but I saw lots of great pictures, not only from
Rob Simmelkjaer: adults and our staff, but also the kids, the rising
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York Road Runners program was there. We had races
Rob Simmelkjaer: for the kids ages two to 18, and it was
Rob Simmelkjaer: great to see them out there. Of course, this is
Rob Simmelkjaer: like the magical time of year for so many of
Rob Simmelkjaer: those kids. So they got a chance to run and
Rob Simmelkjaer: then everybody got a little hot cocoa, which was much
Rob Simmelkjaer: needed at the end of the day out in Brooklyn.
Rob Simmelkjaer: So thanks to everybody who came out to run on
Rob Simmelkjaer: Saturday. Also looking ahead to New Year's as well should
Rob Simmelkjaer: be exciting. But we had three great winners on Saturday, Jared
Rob Simmelkjaer: Moore, the men's winner, 16:03. Abbe Goldstein on the women's side, 16:
Rob Simmelkjaer: 45. And Sean Rankin, non- binary at 19:51. For those
Rob Simmelkjaer: of you who are running on New Year's Eve for our
Rob Simmelkjaer: annual Midnight Run, we are so excited for that race.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It's going to be amazing. It is, by the way,
Rob Simmelkjaer: sold out as of the moment of this recording, which
Rob Simmelkjaer: is very unusual. We don't usually sell that race out
Rob Simmelkjaer: until much closer to New Year's Eve. But it's already
Rob Simmelkjaer: sold out so people are excited to run. And by
Rob Simmelkjaer: the way, one little bit of something new for this
Rob Simmelkjaer: year's race, we're going to have a drone show instead
Rob Simmelkjaer: of fireworks this year at the Midnight Run. That's right.
Rob Simmelkjaer: A lot of you are accustomed to the big fireworks
Rob Simmelkjaer: show. This year, we're changing things up. You might remember,
Rob Simmelkjaer: before all this rain we had in New York the
Rob Simmelkjaer: last few weeks, there was a drought and a real
Rob Simmelkjaer: fire risk in Central Park. So we were asked by
Rob Simmelkjaer: FDNY not to have fireworks. We pivoted, decided to have
Rob Simmelkjaer: a drone show instead. Something that we've been thinking about
Rob Simmelkjaer: doing for a while actually. And so the drones will
Rob Simmelkjaer: be in the air. Drones are a little bit of
Rob Simmelkjaer: a hot topic right now around the New York City
Rob Simmelkjaer: area, but these are going to be drones that we
Rob Simmelkjaer: know exactly where they're going. They're going to be in
Rob Simmelkjaer: formation. NYPD, FDNY, everybody knows about these drones and they'll
Rob Simmelkjaer: only be visible really in the immediate area of the
Rob Simmelkjaer: race. So no reason for fear folks. These are our
Rob Simmelkjaer: drones that'll be part of the show on New Year's
Rob Simmelkjaer: Eve, and we look forward to ringing in the New
Rob Simmelkjaer: Year with so many of you that night.
Becs Gentry: Ready to level up your running? With the Peloton Tread
Becs Gentry: and Tread+, you can challenge yourself anytime, anywhere. Whether you're
Becs Gentry: building strength or working on speed, Peloton has a class
Becs Gentry: for every goal, from five to 120 minute workouts. With
Becs Gentry: muscle building classes and flexible training options, you'll have everything
Becs Gentry: you need to crush your next race and then recover
Becs Gentry: from it. All access membership separate. Find your push, find
Becs Gentry: your power at onepeloton. com/ race- training. Peloton, the official
Becs Gentry: digital fitness partner for New York Road Runners
Rob Simmelkjaer: Today on Set The Pace, we're joined by a great
Rob Simmelkjaer: friend of New York Road Runners, Nev Schulman. If you
Rob Simmelkjaer: watch MTV, you know Nev. He's a TV host, a father of three,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and a passionate runner. He's known to millions as the
Rob Simmelkjaer: face of MTV's Catfish show. But Nev's life took a
Rob Simmelkjaer: scary turn, scarier than being catfished, in fact, this past August when
Rob Simmelkjaer: a bicycle accident left him with a broken neck. But
Rob Simmelkjaer: amazingly, just three months later, he defied the odds by
Rob Simmelkjaer: completing the TCS New York City Marathon as a guide
Rob Simmelkjaer: for Achilles International, helping a blind runner, Francesco Magisano, cross
Rob Simmelkjaer: the finish line. And he's here fresh off running another
Rob Simmelkjaer: race, the Pyramids Half Marathon in Egypt. And Nev will
Rob Simmelkjaer: join us to tell us all the incredible lessons that
Rob Simmelkjaer: he has learned in his career. And of course with
Rob Simmelkjaer: all the recent drama he had with that very serious
Rob Simmelkjaer: accident on a bike and his recovery to run the
Rob Simmelkjaer: marathon. And just like Nev Schulman, our featured member of
Rob Simmelkjaer: the day, Dietmar Stork, is a devoted runner with a
Rob Simmelkjaer: love for all kinds of races, from milers and marathons
Rob Simmelkjaer: to overnight, ultra- running adventures. His love for the running
Rob Simmelkjaer: community drives him to be a dedicated volunteer as well,
Rob Simmelkjaer: making Dietmar an irreplaceable member of our New York Road
Rob Simmelkjaer: Runners community. Stay tuned because later in the show, Meb
Rob Simmelkjaer: will be here with Dietmar who will share the inside
Rob Simmelkjaer: scoop on what it's like to lead a team of
Rob Simmelkjaer: volunteers at the starting line of the TCS New York
Rob Simmelkjaer: City Marathon. And as the days continue to get colder
Rob Simmelkjaer: and shorter, today's Meb Minute will focus on what you
Rob Simmelkjaer: need to do to make sure you stay safe on your winter
Rob Simmelkjaer: run. So stay tuned for that.
Becs Gentry: Growing a business means a lot of audience attracting, a
Becs Gentry: lot of lead scoring, and a lot of long days.
Becs Gentry: But with HubSpot, it's easier than ever for marketers to
Becs Gentry: boost leads and score customers fast, which means pretty soon
Becs Gentry: your company will have a lot to celebrate. Visit hubspot. com/
Becs Gentry: marketers to learn more.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Nev Schulman's connection to running started as a little kid
Rob Simmelkjaer: watching the New York City Marathon finish line with his
Rob Simmelkjaer: father, a tradition that planted the seed for what has
Rob Simmelkjaer: become a central part of his life. Since running his
Rob Simmelkjaer: first marathon in 2015, Nev has completed countless races from
Rob Simmelkjaer: 5Ks to ultra marathons, sometimes on his own, sometimes as
Rob Simmelkjaer: a guide for visually impaired runners with Achilles International. Running
Rob Simmelkjaer: for Nev is more than a sport, it is therapy,
Rob Simmelkjaer: adventure, and a way to build community. And as you'll
Rob Simmelkjaer: hear, running specifically the goal of running the 2024 TCS New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York City Marathon was what gave Nev the inspiration to
Rob Simmelkjaer: recover, in record time, from an injury that could have
Rob Simmelkjaer: changed his life and his running forever. And Nev, it
Rob Simmelkjaer: is so great to have you on Set The Pace.
Rob Simmelkjaer: We've had a chance to meet at a couple of
Rob Simmelkjaer: finish lines, and we're just thrilled to have you on
Rob Simmelkjaer: here. Welcome.
Nev Schulman: Thanks so much for having me.
Becs Gentry: It is so good to see you. It is so good to see you moving. Well, we're
Becs Gentry: way after the fact now, but we're going to get
Becs Gentry: into the nitty- gritty details of what happened to you
Becs Gentry: last year. I haven't actually spoken to you since then and
Becs Gentry: it's so good to see you being you.
Nev Schulman: Thank you. It feels good, too.
Becs Gentry: So okay, let's get on the readers straight into it
Becs Gentry: because I feel like once the readers... The readers. The
Becs Gentry: listeners understand what you went through last August, correct?
Nev Schulman: This August.
Becs Gentry: This August. This August. Yeah, August of 2024. So Nev had
Becs Gentry: a really, really terrible accident. And I don't want to
Becs Gentry: put it into my words, you lived through every moment
Becs Gentry: of it. So can you tell us all what happened?
Nev Schulman: Yeah, in very simple terms, I was riding on my
Nev Schulman: bicycle and miscalculated some traffic patterns and ended up colliding
Nev Schulman: with a car going over my handlebars into the back
Nev Schulman: of what was a delivery van, work truck. And I
Nev Schulman: don't remember anything after that. I woke up on a
Nev Schulman: stretcher getting loaded into an ambulance. And at first I
Nev Schulman: thought it seemed as though I was okay. My hands
Nev Schulman: hurt a little bit, but I didn't have any obvious
Nev Schulman: injuries or broken bones that I could see. But upon
Nev Schulman: further inspection, it became clear that in the accident I
Nev Schulman: had broken my C6 spine vertebrae, so I had what's
Nev Schulman: called a stable fracture in my C6, which required immediate
Nev Schulman: spine surgery to alleviate pressure on the spinal cord, which
Nev Schulman: was causing nerve pain. So I was rushed to Stony
Nev Schulman: Brook Hospital, which has an intensive care unit for spine
Nev Schulman: injuries. And within 12 hours I was in the operating
Nev Schulman: room having what's called a laminectomy, which is actually a
Nev Schulman: pretty common procedure used to relieve pressure from herniated discs
Nev Schulman: or spine- related issues. So it was a wild 24
Nev Schulman: hours. I spent the next six days in the ICU
Nev Schulman: being closely monitored for what many doctors and nurses assumed
Nev Schulman: would be an injury that would've caused some paralysis, but
Nev Schulman: remarkably it did not. And I walked out of the hospital
Nev Schulman: a week later. And yeah, that was my August.
Becs Gentry: Wow, that is petrifying. I can't even begin to imagine,
Becs Gentry: not just you personally hearing those words that you've broken
Becs Gentry: your neck, your spine injuries. They're just things that you
Becs Gentry: think, no, no, that's not happening to me right now.
Becs Gentry: But did they tell you straight away that you were going to
Becs Gentry: be paralyzed or was there some time where it was
Becs Gentry: we have to wait and see?
Nev Schulman: Well, what was probably the scariest part of the whole
Nev Schulman: experience was, I'm not typically a very dramatic person in
Nev Schulman: terms of my reactions to injuries. I often just assume,
Nev Schulman: okay, it's fine, it'll be fine. It's not that bad.
Nev Schulman: So initially again, as I took stock of my body,
Nev Schulman: I thought, okay, I don't have any giant wounds. I
Nev Schulman: don't have any bones sticking out of my skin. I
Nev Schulman: think I'm okay. But I kept complaining about my hands hurting.
Nev Schulman: So they did the MRI and there was a real
Nev Schulman: shift in the energy in the room when it became
Nev Schulman: clear that I had a spine fracture. And when I
Nev Schulman: got to the second hospital, I could tell that every
Nev Schulman: doctor and nurse who came into the room, upon seeing
Nev Schulman: the chart and the headline of cervical spine fracture just
Nev Schulman: assumed that I had some paralysis or that there was
Nev Schulman: going to be some long- term paralysis. So every time
Nev Schulman: they came in and they said, " Okay, we're going to
Nev Schulman: do some basic tests. Do you feel this?" And they
Nev Schulman: touched my leg and they said, " Wiggle your toes." And
Nev Schulman: every time I could do all of those things, and
Nev Schulman: I said, " Yes," to do you feel this? I could
Nev Schulman: see that they were surprised, which was both a relief,
Nev Schulman: but also added to the concern that, wow, I guess
Nev Schulman: this injury typically doesn't go this way. And most people
Nev Schulman: who come in here with this type of an accident are
Nev Schulman: not feeling and saying yes to these things. So I
Nev Schulman: knew at the same time how lucky I was, but
Nev Schulman: also how serious it was and could potentially become. Because
Nev Schulman: with nerve- related things, you have to watch it closely
Nev Schulman: because it can change and anything can affect it. So
Nev Schulman: there were still a lot of variables that we didn't
Nev Schulman: know how they were going to turn out.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Nev, how long did it take you to get out
Rob Simmelkjaer: of the hospital, to start moving again? What was that
Rob Simmelkjaer: immediate period like? And I'm curious how it must've gone
Rob Simmelkjaer: well for you to even have a chance to think about running
Rob Simmelkjaer: a marathon.
Nev Schulman: Yeah, I was in the hospital for six days. I
Nev Schulman: got in there Monday night and I left, I think,
Nev Schulman: Sunday. But I remember even on, I guess it was
Nev Schulman: probably Wednesday, not to get too graphic, but I had
Nev Schulman: a catheter for the first two days because I was
Nev Schulman: knocked out for the surgery. And when I requested to
Nev Schulman: remove that, I've always been a little, I don't know
Nev Schulman: what the right word is, but I get stage fright
Nev Schulman: when it comes to urinating, not in a toilet. So
Nev Schulman: I remember on Wednesday I said, " Hey, I really need
Nev Schulman: to use the bathroom, but I can't mentally get myself
Nev Schulman: to do it in a bedpan. Can I please go
Nev Schulman: use the bathroom?" And the nurse was so confused and
Nev Schulman: surprised that I was asking if I could get up
Nev Schulman: to go use the bathroom because that is not something
Nev Schulman: people typically ask to do in this unit of the
Nev Schulman: hospital. She had to go and get the doctor and ask, "
Nev Schulman: Is it okay? Are we allowed to let him up?"
Nev Schulman: It just wasn't protocol that they were used to dealing
Nev Schulman: with. So they eventually decided to let me do it.
Nev Schulman: And once I got up on my feet, it was
Nev Schulman: very hard to get me off my feet. Obviously, I
Nev Schulman: was exhausted and I needed to lay down and rest
Nev Schulman: a lot, but I also wanted to move. I wanted
Nev Schulman: to walk around the hallways. I wanted to try and
Nev Schulman: keep myself active as much as possible, even from that
Nev Schulman: first week, which again came as a very strange but
Nev Schulman: welcome surprise to all of the staff at the hospital
Nev Schulman: because it's just not something, I don't think anyone else
Nev Schulman: who was there that week was doing. I walked past
Nev Schulman: those rooms many times and everybody else on that floor
Nev Schulman: was laying in their bed the whole time. No one
Nev Schulman: was getting up like me. So that's how I knew
Nev Schulman: initially that, okay, I'm going to be okay. I'm already
Nev Schulman: further along than I think anyone expected. And I had
Nev Schulman: a brace that I wore and the doctor told me
Nev Schulman: I'd be in the brace for at least six weeks.
Nev Schulman: So initially I thought, okay, for the next six weeks,
Nev Schulman: I'm obviously going to be pretty immobile. And I found
Nev Schulman: some sort of workarounds. Obviously, I started physical therapy and
Nev Schulman: they had me on the reclined bike, the recumbent bike,
Nev Schulman: which allowed me to get a little bit of movement
Nev Schulman: in. I got myself one of those mobility scooters so
Nev Schulman: that I could at least get around the neighborhood. I
Nev Schulman: walk my kids to school and go grocery shopping and
Nev Schulman: not be completely reliant on anyone else. But it was
Nev Schulman: pretty disheartening because the injury, the healing of my neck
Nev Schulman: was obviously happening. The incision had to heal. The muscles
Nev Schulman: in my neck were injured from the accident and the
Nev Schulman: impact. But then of course, they started to atrophy from
Nev Schulman: not using them because of the brace. And even just
Nev Schulman: going for a five- minute walk around the block was
Nev Schulman: difficult. It was really hard. My shoulders would get tight,
Nev Schulman: my back would start to hurt. It was very discouraging.
Nev Schulman: So initially I really was very skeptical on if and
Nev Schulman: when I'd be back to a fully able- bodied and
Nev Schulman: certain running status. So it was unclear how it was going to go for a
Nev Schulman: while there.
Becs Gentry: Wow. And I want to ask you, because you are
Becs Gentry: very motivated. You're a very headstrong guy. When you were
Becs Gentry: cycling at the time, were you going to pick up
Becs Gentry: your kids from school?
Nev Schulman: Yeah, it was August, so the kids were in day camp.
Becs Gentry: That was it, right.
Nev Schulman: And I was on my way to pick up our
Nev Schulman: then two- year- old or almost three- year- old from
Nev Schulman: camp in the afternoon. So obviously in retrospect, I'm glad
Nev Schulman: it happened on the way to camp.
Becs Gentry: Of course.
Nev Schulman: It could just easily happened on the way back.
Becs Gentry: I bring that up because as a parent and as
Becs Gentry: a partner, I can't imagine Laura's freak- out when she
Becs Gentry: probably, first of all, they're like, " Okay, well your child
Becs Gentry: hasn't been picked up yet." And she's like, " This is
Becs Gentry: strange." Gets the call that you've had this horrific accident.
Becs Gentry: And how, as a parent and as a very strong- willed person,
Becs Gentry: how did you utilize the love and the support of
Becs Gentry: your family? I'm lucky enough to have met your wife
Becs Gentry: and you guys have such a beautiful connection. I met
Becs Gentry: your gorgeous son a few years ago. You can tell
Becs Gentry: that there's so much love. How did that motivate you
Becs Gentry: to get your butt out of the hospital?
Nev Schulman: Yeah, I still will never really fully understand the roller
Nev Schulman: coaster that my wife went through over the course of
Nev Schulman: this whole process. She got the call from the school
Nev Schulman: or from the camp that no one had come to
Nev Schulman: pick up Cy yet. So she knew something was strange
Nev Schulman: because she had seen me leave to go get him.
Nev Schulman: So she got in the car, and then I think...
Nev Schulman: My timeline of this is a little fuzzy. But she
Nev Schulman: obviously then got a call that, " Hey, your husband's been in
Nev Schulman: a bike accident. He's on the way to Southampton Hospital."
Nev Schulman: But from what she had been told, it was, " He's
Nev Schulman: okay." Because I was talking. Again, I didn't have any
Nev Schulman: massive major physical visible injuries. So they just assumed, " Hey,
Nev Schulman: we're taking him to the hospital just to get him checked out,
Nev Schulman: but he seems fine." So she thought, okay, I'll pick
Nev Schulman: up Cy and then he'll come home from the hospital either
Nev Schulman: after he gets checked out or we'll go see him,
Nev Schulman: whatever. So it was a little confusing. She then came
Nev Schulman: to the hospital right around the same time that they
Nev Schulman: discovered, that evening, that I was going to need to
Nev Schulman: be transferred to an ICU because I had broken my
Nev Schulman: neck. So it all happened in that evening and she
Nev Schulman: realized, oh wow, this is not just some small thing
Nev Schulman: that is going to be over now. And over the
Nev Schulman: course of that week, but even more so the next
Nev Schulman: four weeks, I really... And I've been very aware of
Nev Schulman: and appreciative of the support I have and the family
Nev Schulman: that I am blessed to be a part of. But
Nev Schulman: I've never really appreciated fully the level of care and
Nev Schulman: support and selflessness that it takes to go through something
Nev Schulman: like this with your partner with whom you have children.
Nev Schulman: Because what she had to do and the responsibility she
Nev Schulman: had to take on and the stress and the burden
Nev Schulman: and the just management of all of the factors and
Nev Schulman: feelings, and the hospital stuff and the nurse stuff, and
Nev Schulman: getting me a chair, there was so much that had
Nev Schulman: to happen that I couldn't do or be a part
Nev Schulman: of at all. And I hate to, not that this
Nev Schulman: is the word, but there's the business of caring for someone is
Nev Schulman: immense. And seeing her and my other family members, my
Nev Schulman: uncle and my mom who flew in from California, and
Nev Schulman: everyone who just dropped what they were doing and said, "
Nev Schulman: Okay, this is it. This is what we have to
Nev Schulman: do now. We have to all chip in and support
Nev Schulman: Laura and the kids." Because I was essentially taken care
Nev Schulman: of, but there were so many things that needed to
Nev Schulman: also be handled. And so seeing that really, I remember
Nev Schulman: I was sitting with my mother, Laura, my uncle, and
Nev Schulman: they were on the phone, with the hospital and they
Nev Schulman: were dealing with other... And I just started crying. I
Nev Schulman: just couldn't believe the amount of care and love and
Nev Schulman: support that I was feeling from my family in that
Nev Schulman: moment and how much I needed it and couldn't do
Nev Schulman: without it. It was very humbling.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I think that's the right word. And you're lucky to
Rob Simmelkjaer: have it and you wish you didn't need it in
Rob Simmelkjaer: a moment like that. 100%. Okay, Nev, so I've got
Rob Simmelkjaer: to ask you. When did the thought of running the
Rob Simmelkjaer: marathon even sneak into your mind? Had you already planned
Rob Simmelkjaer: to run, you ran as a guide with Achilles, was
Rob Simmelkjaer: that already on the calendar in the plan when this accident happened?
Nev Schulman: So yeah, last year I ran as a guide with
Nev Schulman: Achilles, and it was such a incredibly meaningful and fulfilling
Nev Schulman: experience, and it was exactly the thing I was looking for in
Nev Schulman: my progression as a marathon runner. Having run the New York City
Nev Schulman: Marathon about I think six or seven times, I realized,
Nev Schulman: okay, there's got to be more to this. How can
Nev Schulman: I find more meaning? How can I find more deeper
Nev Schulman: satisfaction in this event? And so I guided last year
Nev Schulman: and loved it. So I immediately then guided with Francesco
Nev Schulman: in Boston in April. We had such a good time
Nev Schulman: there. He invited me to be his guide again this
Nev Schulman: year in New York City, so I had already agreed
Nev Schulman: to do that. I was also working with the incredible
Nev Schulman: coaching app, Runna, with whom I have a partnership.
Rob Simmelkjaer: And so do we. Of course, we love Runna. Absolutely.
Nev Schulman: And so I was actively training for two upcoming events
Nev Schulman: with them. I was going to run I a half-
Nev Schulman: marathon in the UK, the Great North Half, which is
Nev Schulman: this incredible race, which I've-
Rob Simmelkjaer: Big event. Becs knows well, I'm sure. Yep.
Nev Schulman: So I was training to set my new PB for a
Nev Schulman: half, which was, I think, in September. And then I
Nev Schulman: was going to roll that into hopefully setting a new
Nev Schulman: PB at the Honolulu Marathon in December. And the New York
Nev Schulman: City Marathon was going to be a perfect training race
Nev Schulman: to lead up to that. So I had a whole
Nev Schulman: really very elaborate plan for my fall running. Obviously, it
Nev Schulman: became clear that the training for the Great North Half
Nev Schulman: wasn't going to happen anymore. But because I was in
Nev Schulman: such good shape and I'd been training so hard, in
Nev Schulman: my head, I was already like, I don't want to
Nev Schulman: lose this fitness. So I had already started thinking, okay,
Nev Schulman: I'll put off... The half isn't going to happen. Fine.
Nev Schulman: But maybe just maybe the marathon in December could still
Nev Schulman: happen. And I probably won't set a PB, but it'll still
Nev Schulman: be a cool story to come back to run the
Nev Schulman: marathon. Anyway, Runna, who is amazing and very accommodating and
Nev Schulman: understanding immediately said, " Hey, look, Nev, we want you to
Nev Schulman: focus on your recovery. Please, no pressure from us. We're
Nev Schulman: not assuming that you're going to run this year. Let's
Nev Schulman: just put things on hold and we'll pick back up
Nev Schulman: in 2025 once you're healed." So that was a huge
Nev Schulman: bummer because on one hand I appreciated it, but I
Nev Schulman: also was so looking forward to those races. And I
Nev Schulman: was training for it so that it was a little bit of
Nev Schulman: a letdown. But I thought, okay, fine. One of the
Nev Schulman: hardest parts of this whole injury was really letting go
Nev Schulman: of expectations and timeline and understanding that taking the appropriate
Nev Schulman: amount of time to heal now might seem long and
Nev Schulman: frustrating, but in the long run will be far more
Nev Schulman: important. So coming to terms with that and saying like, "
Nev Schulman: Okay, fine, my fall running schedule, let's just clear it
Nev Schulman: and not expect to do anything." And as a result
Nev Schulman: of that, I texted Francesco at Achilles and I said, "
Nev Schulman: Hey, don't count on me to run the marathon with
Nev Schulman: you this year because I know it takes time to
Nev Schulman: find new guides. You should start that process now."
Rob Simmelkjaer: Francesco, by the way, I should say, Magisano is not
Rob Simmelkjaer: just an Achilles athlete. He's really a leader at Achilles.
Nev Schulman: Right, he's the director of the New York Achilles chapter,
Nev Schulman: and he's not just a runner, he's a triathlete. And
Nev Schulman: he's actually, in his age and category, I think he's
Nev Schulman: won medals for his racing. So all that, I think,
Nev Schulman: is relevant because don't expect a blind triathlete to give
Nev Schulman: you any sympathy when it comes to coming back from
Nev Schulman: any kind of injury and running a race. He responded
Nev Schulman: immediately, he said, " Nev, I know you're still recovering, but I'm
Nev Schulman: going to count on you to do this with me.
Nev Schulman: I don't care how fast we go, you're going to
Nev Schulman: do this."
Rob Simmelkjaer: I love it. I absolutely love it. What a perfect partner
Rob Simmelkjaer: to have in a situation like that. Oh yeah, sorry, you
Rob Simmelkjaer: hurt yourself, but you're going to do this because I'm blind
Rob Simmelkjaer: and I've been doing this so you can do this,
Rob Simmelkjaer: too. Yeah, it's actually perfect.
Nev Schulman: That was two weeks after the accident. And that really
Nev Schulman: was the first moment I thought like, okay, surely if
Nev Schulman: the doctors expects that I'll be out of the brace
Nev Schulman: in six weeks, that gives me another month to just
Nev Schulman: get in shape enough to walk and maybe jog some
Nev Schulman: of this race. What a cool thing that would be
Nev Schulman: to do. And that's when I started thinking like, okay,
Nev Schulman: I guess I could do this. And once the brace
Nev Schulman: came off and I went for that first jog, it
Nev Schulman: became clear that I think this is doable. And so
Nev Schulman: I started building back up as much as I could.
Nev Schulman: I had a good baseline of fitness that I think
Nev Schulman: really helps, and I was able to get in shape.
Becs Gentry: Wow. I mean the inspiration that comes from everything that
Becs Gentry: happened to you from August through to getting across that
Becs Gentry: finish line in November is huge. And I'm sure your
Becs Gentry: whole family were totally and utterly mesmerized by watching you
Becs Gentry: go on that journey. And just again, with Francesco as
Becs Gentry: an incredible person in your team here. So you did
Becs Gentry: the TCS New York City Marathon, you ran it, you
Becs Gentry: ran it with a smile. I saw lots of pictures
Becs Gentry: of you.
Nev Schulman: It was tough.
Becs Gentry: You made it look very enjoyable, even if it was
Becs Gentry: on the inside a painful moment. But it's not the
Becs Gentry: only race you've done. So it's not like that's it.
Becs Gentry: You've literally just got back from another race.
Nev Schulman: What was surprising was that I didn't expect the level
Nev Schulman: of attention and really the pouring of support that I
Nev Schulman: got when it became public that I had experienced this
Nev Schulman: accident and that I was recovering from this injury. I've been
Nev Schulman: on TV for the past 12 years. I love that
Nev Schulman: I have fans and people recognize me and stop me
Nev Schulman: on the street to say hello and take a picture.
Nev Schulman: And I'm very used to that. I get it everywhere,
Nev Schulman: and it's really, it's lovely. The shift that I felt
Nev Schulman: when all of a sudden people heard about my accident
Nev Schulman: and the attention that I got was so wildly different
Nev Schulman: and so much more emotional. There was just this incredible
Nev Schulman: outpouring of empathy, that people would come up to me
Nev Schulman: on the streets... Sorry, this guy is just so loud. I
Nev Schulman: don't know if it's so loud for you, but I'm going to run. Has anyone ever actively been running on your podcast?
Rob Simmelkjaer: Actually, this is the first. Actually, running on the podcast. We can use again.
Nev Schulman: Okay, this should be better. Okay. So what was so
Nev Schulman: wild was that all of a sudden people would see
Nev Schulman: me and they would say, " Oh my God, I heard about
Nev Schulman: your accident. How are you? I hope you're feeling better."
Nev Schulman: And everyone wanted to share stories of either their own
Nev Schulman: accidents or other people's recoveries. And I've never had people say, "
Nev Schulman: I prayed for you." And just really opened their hearts
Nev Schulman: to me, whether it was on social media or in
Nev Schulman: person. And as a result, there was this whole new
Nev Schulman: story. There was this new narrative that I'd had an
Nev Schulman: accident, but that I was on the road to recovery and
Nev Schulman: really working hard and very much sharing my journey. And
Nev Schulman: that strangely, but wonderfully, opened some doors to some new
Nev Schulman: opportunities, one of which was with Brooks with whom I
Nev Schulman: ran the New York City Marathon this year, and also
Nev Schulman: with the Pyramids Half Marathon, which is this incredible event
Nev Schulman: that takes place in Cairo. And I got invited to
Nev Schulman: participate. And because I was already on the road recovery
Nev Schulman: and feeling pretty good, I immediately said, " Yes, of course
Nev Schulman: I would love to do that." My wife, who has
Nev Schulman: her own interesting running journey, who had recently, after 13
Nev Schulman: years of not running because of a knee injury, started
Nev Schulman: running again, mainly because she saw that, if I can
Nev Schulman: start running again after breaking my neck, surely she can
Nev Schulman: start running again too. So we started training again together,
Nev Schulman: and I got her invited to also run the half-
Nev Schulman: marathon with me this last weekend. And so we both
Nev Schulman: went to Cairo and just participated in this incredible event,
Nev Schulman: which was a huge accomplishment for her because she hadn't
Nev Schulman: run a half- marathon in 13 years, and we had
Nev Schulman: never run a race together. It's been a wild year
Nev Schulman: of extremes for me going from maybe never running again
Nev Schulman: to not only running again, but these new incredible opportunities.
Nev Schulman: And now my wife who was inspired to start running
Nev Schulman: as well, and we're now running together and I think
Nev Schulman: we're going to run the London Marathon in April. It's
Nev Schulman: amazing how, for her growing up as a runner in
Nev Schulman: high school and now me becoming a runner as an
Nev Schulman: adult, the running theme has really woven through our lives
Nev Schulman: and now brought us together and created all these new
Nev Schulman: opportunities. And it's just been an amazing experience.
Becs Gentry: Wow.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It is amazing. Yeah, sometimes these things happen and doesn't
Rob Simmelkjaer: look like a good situation at first. You wouldn't choose
Rob Simmelkjaer: it to happen again, but you look back some months
Rob Simmelkjaer: or years later and really good things can come out
Rob Simmelkjaer: of accidents and bad situations. I always wonder with people
Rob Simmelkjaer: who are runners or athletes who go through these situations,
Rob Simmelkjaer: whether you think the running that you had done before, you've
Rob Simmelkjaer: been running your whole life, you'd run, I think 23
Rob Simmelkjaer: Road Runners races before this accident. Whether you think that
Rob Simmelkjaer: helped you get through all of this. The fact that
Rob Simmelkjaer: you were able to come out of this as well
Rob Simmelkjaer: as you did and surprise the doctors, having that level
Rob Simmelkjaer: of fitness both physically and mentally would probably be something
Rob Simmelkjaer: that would help somebody get through something like this.
Nev Schulman: Yeah, I think absolutely. In fact, I remember my physical
Nev Schulman: therapist who I've been going to for a long time,
Nev Schulman: or he's a bunch of things. He's not just physical
Nev Schulman: therapist, but he specifically does a lot of sports medicine
Nev Schulman: and works with a lot of runners. And I saw
Nev Schulman: him maybe three or four weeks after the injury for
Nev Schulman: the first time, when I was already up and about
Nev Schulman: and moving and talking about wanting to start running soon.
Nev Schulman: And he said that, in his experience working with many
Nev Schulman: people over the years, the quicker you get back out
Nev Schulman: there, the quicker you're active and the less time you
Nev Schulman: spend not moving and letting your muscles and your body
Nev Schulman: atrophy and weaken, the better. And that he was so
Nev Schulman: happy, even if some doctors might not recommend being so
Nev Schulman: mobile or running so soon after, he said from everything
Nev Schulman: he's seen and all the patients he's worked with, the
Nev Schulman: sooner you get back out and on your feet the
Nev Schulman: better. And yeah, I didn't expect it. But I think
Nev Schulman: knowing that, for me, running is such a crucial form
Nev Schulman: of both fitness and exercise, but really more than anything,
Nev Schulman: I think, mental health really is, simply put, I had to. I
Nev Schulman: had no choice. The six weeks that I was in
Nev Schulman: the neck brace and mostly in a reclined position were
Nev Schulman: torture. I just wanted to move. I knew I liked
Nev Schulman: running, but I didn't really understand how important it was
Nev Schulman: to me and how vital it was to my mental
Nev Schulman: health until there was a moment where I didn't know
Nev Schulman: if I'd be able to do it again. And I
Nev Schulman: didn't do it for even just those six weeks. I
Nev Schulman: got dark and I needed it, and I started looking forward
Nev Schulman: to it so much.
Becs Gentry: Tell me, did your training also change though? The way
Becs Gentry: you viewed running, yes. The way you viewed your body,
Becs Gentry: yes, your relationships. But how you've gone into those few
Becs Gentry: months that you had before the TCS New York City
Becs Gentry: Marathon, the Pyramids Half, and now going forward, what's going
Becs Gentry: to be different for you?
Nev Schulman: For sure. It was frustrating because, like I said, I
Nev Schulman: had been really peak training fitness up until the morning
Nev Schulman: of the accident. And I was starting to, as you
Nev Schulman: know, and I might mute for a second because it sounds
Nev Schulman: like there's an ambulance coming.
Rob Simmelkjaer: That's okay. It's New York. We're used to it
Nev Schulman: Anyway. That morning I had done a really fast routine,
Nev Schulman: which was... What do you call an exercise where you
Nev Schulman: do, it was like a half a mile and then
Nev Schulman: a quarter of a mile faster, and then an eighth of a mile faster? And it
Nev Schulman: was a progression run, I guess. Progression run. And I had just crushed it, and
Nev Schulman: I was so high on that adrenaline of seeing my
Nev Schulman: progress and feeling the speed. And so I haven't done
Nev Schulman: a lot of that. So there's only been a few years
Nev Schulman: where I've really trained aggressively to set PBs, one of
Nev Schulman: which was in 2018 for the New York City Marathon where
Nev Schulman: I did my PB. But since then, it's mostly been
Nev Schulman: maintaining a baseline level of fitness and then building up
Nev Schulman: towards races, but not with the expectation of pushing myself to
Nev Schulman: go too fast. So I was really starting to feel
Nev Schulman: that excitement of like, oh, wow, I'm getting faster, I'm
Nev Schulman: getting stronger. This is so fun. So it was tough
Nev Schulman: because, obviously, after not running for six weeks and recovering
Nev Schulman: from a pretty major accident, my first run back was
Nev Schulman: terrible. Felt terrible. It was so slow and short and
Nev Schulman: disappointing on the heels of the last run I had gone
Nev Schulman: on. It was emotionally tough because leading up for the
Nev Schulman: next six weeks, which I think is the amount of
Nev Schulman: time I had before the marathon, there was a very
Nev Schulman: slow build up of, first I just have to see
Nev Schulman: if I can run three miles. Okay, I can do
Nev Schulman: three miles, let me do five. And then, okay, I
Nev Schulman: got to six or seven, and I thought, okay, I can
Nev Schulman: go enough of a distance now to know that my
Nev Schulman: neck isn't going to hurt or cause me any real
Nev Schulman: problems. So now let me see if I can start
Nev Schulman: bringing the pace down a little bit. So I got
Nev Schulman: down into the eights, which for me is pretty slow to
Nev Schulman: be running an 8: 30, 8:45 pace. So I thought, okay,
Nev Schulman: let me see if I can bring that down. And
Nev Schulman: started testing. Every run I was testing. Can I go
Nev Schulman: a little faster? Is it going to hurt? Am I
Nev Schulman: okay? Can I go a little further? And so I slowly got
Nev Schulman: that back down into the sevens and going enough of
Nev Schulman: a distance that it felt like, okay, this could work.
Nev Schulman: And I remember at that time I was also texting
Nev Schulman: with Francesco and giving him updates and saying, " Hey, what
Nev Schulman: shape are you in because here's where I'm at and I
Nev Schulman: want to make sure that you don't we're on the
Nev Schulman: same page and that you're not going to try and
Nev Schulman: go too fast or whatever." So eventually I did my
Nev Schulman: longest run leading up to the marathon, which was, I
Nev Schulman: think, 20 miles with some breaks in there. But it
Nev Schulman: felt okay. And I just remember thinking like, okay, I can
Nev Schulman: do this. I think I'll be okay. I definitely was
Nev Schulman: undertrained though in terms of miles for a race and
Nev Schulman: only really six weeks of active, and hardly even really,
Nev Schulman: because the first few weeks of that was just test runs.
Nev Schulman: So to answer your question, absolutely having the baseline of
Nev Schulman: the last eight years of running pretty consistently allowed me
Nev Schulman: to, I think, recover way faster, get back to a
Nev Schulman: comfortable pace and distance, and not to say wing it,
Nev Schulman: but jump in to training close to the race and
Nev Schulman: still manage to get through it despite it being a
Nev Schulman: pretty, it was hard work, but I did get to
Nev Schulman: the finish line.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yes, you did. Yes, you did. As you always do.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Nev, I want to change gears and just talk a
Rob Simmelkjaer: bit about why people know Nev Schulman and your career,
Rob Simmelkjaer: which is such an interesting one. Breaking onto the scene
Rob Simmelkjaer: in 2010 with this documentary, Catfish, which has become really
Rob Simmelkjaer: part of the lexicon of American in English language. You
Rob Simmelkjaer: basically have a word that you created and something around
Rob Simmelkjaer: that. And what was it like for you, for those
Rob Simmelkjaer: who don't know much about Catfish, the documentary then the
Rob Simmelkjaer: show that came after it, how did that all happen?
Rob Simmelkjaer: And did you see this life coming at you when you
Rob Simmelkjaer: first had this idea to create that film?
Nev Schulman: Yeah, so I grew up in New York City and
Nev Schulman: my brother and a lot of my friends are filmmakers,
Nev Schulman: so I was always around very creative film- focused people. And as
Nev Schulman: a result, in college I started a production company making
Nev Schulman: bar mitzvah and wedding videos, and then I got into
Nev Schulman: filming dance and photography. And so I've always been in
Nev Schulman: that world, but I certainly never had any ambitions to
Nev Schulman: be the subject of a documentary and certainly never to
Nev Schulman: host a television show. It all happened very much by
Nev Schulman: accident. I, in 2007, was approached via MySpace by a
Nev Schulman: young girl in Michigan who had seen my photography website
Nev Schulman: where I posted a lot of photos of dancers and
Nev Schulman: had been inspired by my photos to use them as a
Nev Schulman: subject of watercolor paintings, as she was an aspiring artist.
Nev Schulman: And it was so charming and adorable. And I very quickly started
Nev Schulman: corresponding with her and her mom via MySpace and then
Nev Schulman: Facebook. And really created this charming friendship. And she then
Nev Schulman: would send me the paintings and they were really good,
Nev Schulman: and we were putting them up on the wall. And
Nev Schulman: my brother, who again, like I said, is a filmmaker,
Nev Schulman: was just so curious that he started documenting it, here and there saying, "
Nev Schulman: Oh, what is this new package?" Or I was on
Nev Schulman: the phone or I'd read a funny email or whatever
Nev Schulman: it was. And over the course of the next nine
Nev Schulman: months, my friendship and relationship with the family grew. I
Nev Schulman: became friends with the sister and the cousin and the
Nev Schulman: babysitter and the whole family in this small town in
Nev Schulman: the upper peninsula of Michigan. And I started to flirt
Nev Schulman: with the older sister who was close to my age
Nev Schulman: and lived on a horse farm and rode horses and
Nev Schulman: played music. I lived this very country, artsy life that I
Nev Schulman: had always fantasized that maybe one day I would live.
Nev Schulman: And we weren't dating because we hadn't met, but we
Nev Schulman: were awaiting the opportunity to finally meet. And I think
Nev Schulman: we both assumed that when we did, we'd immediately fall
Nev Schulman: in love. That was the expectation. Fast- forward. We were
Nev Schulman: filming a dance festival in Vail. They said something to
Nev Schulman: me that seemed a little strange. I looked it up.
Nev Schulman: It discovered that they had lied about a property they
Nev Schulman: said they had bought, which was still for sale. There
Nev Schulman: was a song they had sent me that I discovered
Nev Schulman: actually they had just stolen off the internet. So we
Nev Schulman: started investigating and very quickly discovered that a lot of
Nev Schulman: the things they had told me might not be true.
Nev Schulman: We went to Michigan. We surprised them. We filmed the
Nev Schulman: whole thing. And what we discovered was that almost none
Nev Schulman: of what they had told me was true. And many
Nev Schulman: of the people that I had thought were real and
Nev Schulman: had been interacting with were not.
Becs Gentry: What?
Nev Schulman: Anyway, we created the documentary Catfish, which came out in
Nev Schulman: 2010. And that tapped a nerve because people from all
Nev Schulman: over the country and then the world started reaching out
Nev Schulman: to me with their wild stories of online deception and
Nev Schulman: relationships that had ended with them discovering that they had
Nev Schulman: been lied to. And then, of course, the term catfished.
Nev Schulman: And so we started offering to help these people by
Nev Schulman: making the show and taking them on the crazy types
Nev Schulman: of journeys that I had been on. So that's how
Nev Schulman: Catfish happened. Hey, this guy, someone just took a picture
Nev Schulman: of/with me because he's a fan
Rob Simmelkjaer: Nev is on the street right now. So he's got
Rob Simmelkjaer: passersby being like, " Hey, it's Nev Schulman." And taking a photo of
Rob Simmelkjaer: you while you record this podcast interview.
Becs Gentry: Exactly. Wow.
Nev Schulman: Anyways, so yeah, so that's how I started making the
Nev Schulman: show, and we've been making it now for 12 years.
Nev Schulman: And it's been this incredible journey of traveling around the
Nev Schulman: world, but primarily the country, meeting people and holding their
Nev Schulman: hands through a very strange emotional journey of discovering that
Nev Schulman: someone that they, in many cases, are in love with
Nev Schulman: is not at all who they present themselves to be.
Nev Schulman: So that's how I ended up doing this.
Becs Gentry: And then here you are now going around the, I
Becs Gentry: want to say country, but have you done it internationally
Becs Gentry: as well?
Nev Schulman: We have done some episodes. Yeah, we did an episode
Nev Schulman: in Canada, we did an episode in the UK.
Becs Gentry: I feel like I saw a UK one. And here you are, catching everyone out,
Becs Gentry: just not in a bad way though. I think you're
Becs Gentry: saving everyone heartache and pain and you're putting the bad
Becs Gentry: people back on the shelf.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Even just introducing this concept, Nev, that this is a
Rob Simmelkjaer: thing that people do do this people to other people, maybe inserts just maybe that little
Rob Simmelkjaer: bit of healthy skepticism perhaps that people should have when
Rob Simmelkjaer: they're meeting people online, at least at first.
Nev Schulman: Yeah. The show came out with the, or at the
Nev Schulman: same time as dating apps really took hold as well
Nev Schulman: as social media in general. And I think for a
Nev Schulman: lot of people there was this naivete, certainly for me,
Nev Schulman: that people will tell you the truth. And that's not
Nev Schulman: always the case. And with the internet and social media
Nev Schulman: came this ease and access to the ability of creating
Nev Schulman: an alter ego and presenting oneself in a way that
Nev Schulman: may not be exactly, either slightly different or in some
Nev Schulman: cases entirely different from who you really are. And so
Nev Schulman: the conversation has obviously grown around who are we and
Nev Schulman: what can we...
Speaker 7: You're the best. I love him. I'm crazy about the show. Love you.
Nev Schulman: Thank you. Thank you.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Unbelievable.
Nev Schulman: We sort again accidentally created this term Catfish, which wasn't
Nev Schulman: even really intended to be used to describe someone, but
Nev Schulman: it took on a life of its own. And now
Nev Schulman: is in the dictionary as a second definition for the
Nev Schulman: word, relating to anyone who uses social media to present
Nev Schulman: a false version of themselves. But yeah, we had hopes
Nev Schulman: that by making the show and showing people that this
Nev Schulman: happens, that it would eventually go away or that people
Nev Schulman: would know how to avoid it. But here we are
Nev Schulman: now, 300 episodes later and it doesn't seem to be
Nev Schulman: going anywhere. So clearly humans have a desire and, I
Nev Schulman: think, need, some cases for better and some cases for
Nev Schulman: worse, to express themselves in ways that they may not
Nev Schulman: be comfortable doing in real life. And the internet gives
Nev Schulman: them that ability to create new characters and say things
Nev Schulman: they may not feel comfortable saying or act in ways
Nev Schulman: that they're not comfortable acting in their real world. And
Nev Schulman: sometimes it's great. But obviously when it crosses paths with
Nev Schulman: someone else who doesn't know that you're doing that, it
Nev Schulman: can get very complicated and, in some cases, also entertaining.
Nev Schulman: So that's what we've been doing.
Becs Gentry: And we've been loving it for all these years and
Becs Gentry: all these episodes and all of these uncoverings. It's growing
Becs Gentry: and still a show that I will 100% watch. I
Becs Gentry: love watching it when I'm traveling, which is strange. I travel
Becs Gentry: a lot. Okay, so one more thing we want to
Becs Gentry: ask you, just as a moment of inspiration, as Rob
Becs Gentry: says, somebody who's run multiple Road Runners events in the
Becs Gentry: past, and we hope to see you at many, many more
Becs Gentry: moving forward, I'm sure there's no doubt about that. But
Becs Gentry: what words of inspiration could you leave our listeners, to
Becs Gentry: anyone who is potentially overcoming something life- changing, what could
Becs Gentry: you say to inspire them to keep going?
Nev Schulman: Something that I've thought about before. One of the things
Nev Schulman: that I love about running is that you can do
Nev Schulman: it anywhere. And I spend a lot of time in
Nev Schulman: Anywhere, USA. A lot of the places that I go
Nev Schulman: to you've never heard of. They're a few hours away
Nev Schulman: from the nearest city or airport, and there's very little
Nev Schulman: to do there. You're not going to find a run
Nev Schulman: club. You might not find a track. You might not
Nev Schulman: even find a path or bike lane to run it.
Nev Schulman: So I've had to really rely on my love for
Nev Schulman: running because I'll go out and I'll just hit the
Nev Schulman: road. And 99% of the time, I'll go on a
Nev Schulman: one or two hour run. I will not see another
Nev Schulman: runner. I might not even see another pedestrian in many
Nev Schulman: of these places, But once in a while I will.
Nev Schulman: And I remember recently, I don't remember where I was,
Nev Schulman: it was a few years ago now, but I was
Nev Schulman: on a run and I turned onto a road and
Nev Schulman: probably a quarter a mile ahead of me there was
Nev Schulman: another runner going the same way as me. And for
Nev Schulman: it was probably a mile or two, I was trailing
Nev Schulman: them until they eventually turned and went into their neighborhood
Nev Schulman: to go back home. And I continued straight. And I
Nev Schulman: just remember thinking that person will never know that I
Nev Schulman: was running behind them. They didn't see me. They never
Nev Schulman: looked back because they probably assumed there wasn't anyone behind
Nev Schulman: them. But for that 10 or 15 minutes I was using them.
Nev Schulman: I was drafting, if you will, emotionally off of them,
Nev Schulman: excited to know that there was someone else out here.
Nev Schulman: It was cold, it was early, but there was someone
Nev Schulman: else out here who was doing it too, who loves
Nev Schulman: it as much as I do. And again, the idea
Nev Schulman: that they didn't know I was using and inspired by
Nev Schulman: them made me think that, okay, maybe I'm that person for
Nev Schulman: someone else. Maybe physically in real life or even just
Nev Schulman: theoretically someone's behind me and using me as that, oh
Nev Schulman: yeah, there is someone else out here who loves this,
Nev Schulman: who's working hard. I'm not alone. And so I often
Nev Schulman: think about that. That idea that what I love about
Nev Schulman: running specifically is that it's a huge community, but we're
Nev Schulman: all, you have to do it on your own. It's
Nev Schulman: really like an individual thing. And so I love that even as
Nev Schulman: an individual sport, whether we come together physically in races
Nev Schulman: or whether we accidentally run into each other on runs,
Nev Schulman: we're connected to each other. And we rely on each
Nev Schulman: other to set the pace, go a little further, work
Nev Schulman: a little harder, and just get out there and do it.
Becs Gentry: I love that.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I love it. I love it. Beautifully said, incredibly true. I can
Rob Simmelkjaer: relate very much to what you say when it comes
Rob Simmelkjaer: to just seeing that other runner out there or being
Rob Simmelkjaer: seen in some cases. Nev, amazing talking to you. You
Rob Simmelkjaer: are really a great storyteller as you obviously do for
Rob Simmelkjaer: a living. And you tell your own story as well
Rob Simmelkjaer: as any. So thank you. So glad that you have
Rob Simmelkjaer: recovered, that you're back out there running, and we look
Rob Simmelkjaer: forward to seeing you at many NYR races over the next
Rob Simmelkjaer: year and beyond. And continuing to watch you flourish as
Rob Simmelkjaer: you tell these stories.
Nev Schulman: And thank you guys for what you do at New York Road
Nev Schulman: Runners. It's such an important part of my life and
Nev Schulman: New York City. I'm thrilled to be a part of the
Nev Schulman: New York Road Runner family, so I really appreciate it.
Nev Schulman: Thank you.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Dietmar Stork loves cats. He loves music and he loves running. Dietmar
Rob Simmelkjaer: has an impressive running resume with eight ultra- marathons, 10
Rob Simmelkjaer: marathons, and 53 half- marathons under his belt. Beyond his personal
Rob Simmelkjaer: running achievements, which include 159 races with New York Road
Rob Simmelkjaer: Runners, he is deeply involved with our organization serving as
Rob Simmelkjaer: a volunteer leader at critical race events, including unloading buses
Rob Simmelkjaer: at the marathon starting line, which is by the way, a
Rob Simmelkjaer: very important job. So if you got off on a
Rob Simmelkjaer: bus this year on Staten Island, Dietmar and his team
Rob Simmelkjaer: were there to guide you to your village.
Med: Thanks, Rob. Dietmar, welcome to the Set the Pace podcast. How are
Med: you doing today?
Diemar Stork: Good, how are you doing now? Good to see you.
Med: Likewise. Good to see you. You have a very impressive record.
Med: How'd you do it and what's your favorite distance?
Diemar Stork: I would say the half- marathon is the favorite distance because I don't know,
Diemar Stork: I just like it. I run it a lot. And at some point I realized
Diemar Stork: I guess that must be my favorite distance because it's
Diemar Stork: a little less hard than running say a 10K and it's
Diemar Stork: not a marathon. So I really enjoy those. How did
Diemar Stork: I get to it? I started running, I want to
Diemar Stork: say 20 years ago roughly, and I've started running because
Diemar Stork: my doctor actually said to me, " You're living very unhealthy
Diemar Stork: and you need to do something otherwise we put you
Diemar Stork: on medication." So I said, " Well, I'm 30- something years
Diemar Stork: old, I better do something." And I started, by accident,
Diemar Stork: I discovered running, and I realized that I really love that. And I was
Diemar Stork: still living in Berlin. I run the Berlin half- marathon a
Diemar Stork: few times, and then I said, " Well, it's a half-
Diemar Stork: marathon, I should do a full marathon." And then I did to a Berlin Marathon.
Diemar Stork: And then I moved to the States. And with New
Diemar Stork: York Road Runner I really took off. I didn't realize
Diemar Stork: I went over 150 races already, but I'm running a
Diemar Stork: lot of history with them.
Med: Excellent. I'm pretty sure you have a lot of stress
Med: from your run, but you were also volunteer leader at the
Med: bus uploading at the marathon start. What does your day
Med: look like that day, and do you have any interesting stories?
Diemar Stork: That was very interesting. So first of all, I've been
Diemar Stork: volunteer lead for two years now, and I'm volunteer leading
Diemar Stork: quite a lot. I've done it 12 times this year.
Diemar Stork: But that was the first time at the marathon actually.
Diemar Stork: I've been volunteering at, I want to say, seven marathons
Diemar Stork: before, but that was my first time as a lead, which
Diemar Stork: was very different. Plus it was the first time at
Diemar Stork: the start. I used to volunteer at the finish line.
Diemar Stork: So the day was relatively simple. As an idea, we
Diemar Stork: had the buses coming, all the buses which came to and from
Diemar Stork: the ferry or the buses which came from New Jersey,
Diemar Stork: they all came to our area on School Street. I
Diemar Stork: had my volunteers going onto the bus, greeting all the
Diemar Stork: runners, making sure that they know what's going on, get
Diemar Stork: the runners out of the buses, and then gets them
Diemar Stork: into the start minutes. So far, so easy. But obviously,
Diemar Stork: we had a few issues there. I came in, for
Diemar Stork: example, I had a runner who was staying in a
Diemar Stork: hotel, and the hotel employees, the cleaning crew, thought that
Diemar Stork: his bag was as big and everything else in there
Diemar Stork: was trash, so they threw out the bag. So he
Diemar Stork: came to the start without anything and was obviously very,
Diemar Stork: very nervous about it. So we had to assure that
Diemar Stork: we will help them. We got him a new bib
Diemar Stork: and he could run the race. I assumed he could
Diemar Stork: run the race. I didn't follow it afterward. This happened
Diemar Stork: a few times. The oddest thing I would say is
Diemar Stork: we found a ukulele on the bus, so somebody must
Diemar Stork: have entertained the bus by playing ukulele. I don't know where it ended up unfortunately,
Diemar Stork: but if you were a ukulele player that day, kudos
Diemar Stork: to you. But I also was very, very sad to
Diemar Stork: see a nice instrument being left behind.
Med: Wow. You got some interesting stories. But you also know
Med: you have done 159 races for the New Yorker Runners,
Med: and then you've given back a lot as a volunteer.
Med: Since you have been in both sides of the stories,
Med: what advice do you have for runners at the start?
Diemar Stork: At the start, as a runner, I'm always getting nervous
Diemar Stork: no matter which distance it is. I must say that, and
Diemar Stork: that's something we of course experienced on Marathon morning that
Diemar Stork: runners were nervous and so on. I think there, it's
Diemar Stork: just do how you feel like you're running that day.
Diemar Stork: For me, it's always, I never know how I go
Diemar Stork: into a race. For me, it's always I'm starting and
Diemar Stork: then I know how I feel at that day. I'm trying
Diemar Stork: to pursue with that pace. Because I've been running a
Diemar Stork: lot, I've tried not to run every single race too
Diemar Stork: hard. I think I sometimes run a little harder than
Diemar Stork: I should be, but I'm trying to always set a
Diemar Stork: specific goal and try to somehow stick with it. I've been
Diemar Stork: running a little bit less the last few years, and I
Diemar Stork: noticed that improved actually my running. Instead of doing 15, 20
Diemar Stork: races a year, I do my nine plus one. With
Diemar Stork: New York Road Runners, I'm running nine, 10 times every single
Diemar Stork: year and a few races outside. And that helped actually help
Diemar Stork: improving my running by saying it's race a little bit
Diemar Stork: less, train a little bit more. And the time I
Diemar Stork: am not spending on running now myself, I'm spending and
Diemar Stork: volunteering and making sure that this part of the race is going smoothly. And that is a lot of fun. I love that.
Med: I'm pretty sure it's a lot of fun. And I'm pretty sure you're a very
Med: busy person. You have run a lot of races, but
Med: you also have volunteered a lot. How do you decide
Med: whether you going to race or whether you're going to volunteer, and how do
Med: you make that a big decision?
Diemar Stork: Yeah, there are certain races I love running. I love running, for example,
Diemar Stork: the Fred Lebow Half Marathon. I enjoy doing. It's every
Diemar Stork: January. It's really hard, and I really dislike the last
Diemar Stork: hill before the finish line, but I really want to
Diemar Stork: do that. So that's something where I'm saying I'm running
Diemar Stork: this one. But there's also other races. The New York
Diemar Stork: City Half Marathon, it's my favorite half- marathon. Of all
Diemar Stork: the halves I've done, this is the one where I'm
Diemar Stork: saying, if somebody is a runner, you should want this
Diemar Stork: one. It's awesome. But then I'm thinking, well, it's like
Diemar Stork: sharing with somebody. I say, " Okay, I've done it six,
Diemar Stork: seven times. I don't even remember how often somebody else
Diemar Stork: should experience this too." So they should have that. And I try to
Diemar Stork: then enable that by being a volunteer leader, by making sure
Diemar Stork: our volunteers have a great day, that they are enjoying
Diemar Stork: the race, and that then the runners have a great day. So sometimes I'm
Diemar Stork: not necessarily running my most favorite race, and instead I'm
Diemar Stork: volunteering there. But specific races throughout the year, I like
Diemar Stork: doing Fred Lebow is coming up, for example. I love
Diemar Stork: every single year.
Med: Excellent. And you have qualified for via 9+ 1 program
Med: for the 2025 TCS New York City Marathon. So the question is are you
Med: going to run or are you going to volunteer? What's your
Med: mind thinking right now?
Diemar Stork: Currently, my mind is saying I'm volunteering. I actually signed
Diemar Stork: up to be at the start again. And I entered the
Diemar Stork: lottery for Berlin. So currently my mind is set to
Diemar Stork: saying I'm running Berlin and I'm volunteering again because of volunteer
Diemar Stork: experience. It was so nice. I always find it, there's
Diemar Stork: a certain pressure when you're running New York because all
Diemar Stork: my colleagues and friends, everybody who's living all in New
Diemar Stork: York, everybody's saying are you running New York. And afterwards everybody's saying, "
Diemar Stork: How did do?" I always feel a certain pressure saying,
Diemar Stork: no, I really, really have to be extremely well doing
Diemar Stork: well at that race. So it's a much bigger pressure
Diemar Stork: than if I'm running, say an ultra marathon for example,
Diemar Stork: where everybody just said, " Oh wow, you did an ultra
Diemar Stork: marathon. That's awesome." But nobody says, " How did you do?"
Diemar Stork: And knows how fast it is. So I think right now my
Diemar Stork: mind is saying I'm volunteering again and I'm doing 2026.
Diemar Stork: I'm running another time, and then I hope I get into
Diemar Stork: Berlin and run Berlin another time this year, which I
Diemar Stork: haven't done since 2009.
Med: I hope you get to Berlin, but we also want to
Med: say thank you for all the hard work that you
Med: have done as a volunteer, but also doing an amazing
Med: races at the New York Road Runners. Dietmar, thanks for
Med: being with us today and keep up the great work.
Diemar Stork: Thank you.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right, thank you Med. Thank you Dietmar, and thanks
Rob Simmelkjaer: Dietmar for being a member of New York Road Runners.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Now it's time for today's Med Minutes.
Med: Winter running safety. Winter running can be tough, but safety
Med: should always come first. With short days and icy conditions,
Med: make sure you wear bright reflective gear so you are
Med: visible to drivers, especially in low- lit conditions. Choose well-
Med: lit routes and be cautious of slippery spots. Consider wearing
Med: shoes with good tracks and adding spikes if you're running
Med: on ice. Stay aware of your surroundings. And if your
Med: weather's harsh, it is okay to adjust your route or
Med: take a day off. I like to say sometimes this
Med: is a good day for a treadmill run as an
Med: option. Make sure you make a wise decision for today
Med: and for the long season because you don't want to
Med: slip and fall. For example, for me, in 2010 when
Med: I was in Mammoth Lakes, California, after I won the TCS New York
Med: City Marathon, I was getting ready for Boston. There was a
Med: black ice on top of the snow, so you have
Med: to be aware of your surroundings. I slipped and fell
Med: and I prepatellar bursitis, which means I just fell on my
Med: knees and it took a long time to recover. So
Med: be aware of your surroundings. Be making a wise decision.
Med: Sometimes just jumping on the treadmill is okay or taking a day off
Med: if the weather is really bad.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right, that does it for a holiday edition of
Rob Simmelkjaer: Set The Pace. I want to thank our guest today,
Rob Simmelkjaer: Nev Schulman and Dietmar Stork. If you like this episode,
Rob Simmelkjaer: please go ahead, subscribe, rate, leave a comment for the
Rob Simmelkjaer: show, wherever you listen. Merry Christmas to everybody celebrating. Happy
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hanukkah, that starts right around Christmas as well. Have a
Rob Simmelkjaer: great, great holiday week. Enjoy the miles. We'll see you
Rob Simmelkjaer: next week.